Aug 29 Hiyayakko (cold tofu salad) {vegan & gluten free}

When we first moved to London five years ago, we lived in a tiny Georgian terraced flat in King's Cross, about a twenty minute walk from UCL where I studied my MSc in Climate Change. Just around the corner from our place was a little vegan and organic Japanese restaurant called Itadaki Zen and it was our go-to dinner spot while we lived in that neighbourhood. All kinds of amazing set menus were available to order, including our favourite: the chapche set. This came with warm sweet potato starch noodles (chapche) with shiitake mushrooms, vegan sushi rolls, miso soup and fried spring rolls. What I loved about this place is that they were able to adapt their menus to make them gluten free, so when I ordered the chapche set mine always came with a cold tofu salad instead of the fried rolls. I later learnt that the cold tofu salad was called hiyayakko, a popular summertime dish in Japan.

Once we moved south of the river, we found our trips to the King's Cross area to be quite infrequent, so I decided to try making my favourite tofu salad at home. The recipe is so easy to make, to the point where I struggle to even call it a recipe. All you need is good-quality and preferably organic firm tofu, some good-quality gluten free tamari, a little bit of fresh ginger and some black sesame seeds for decoration. The version I used to have at Itadaki Zen also included some very finely sliced spring onions, but I tend to skip that because I avoid eating raw onions (for digestive reasons). I often make this salad as a super quick summertime snack or as part of a vegan sushi spread (if you're looking for an easy vegan sushi recipe, I posted this one a while back). Enjoy!

-xo KA

Hiyayakko (cold tofu salad) {vegan & gluten free}

This is one of my favourite ways to enjoy tofu - it makes the perfect quick snack or goes well as a side to a Japanese-themed dinner. Be sure to use good quality organic tofu as you really taste the tofu in this dish - same goes for the tamari.

Ingredients:

4 tsp gluten free tamari

1 280 g block organic firm tofu, drained and cut into 4 pieces

1 knob ginger, peeled and finely grated

1 tsp black sesame seeds

4 small bowls or plates and chopsticks, to serve

Method:

Place 1 tsp gluten free tamari in each serving dish. Add one piece of tofu to each dish on top of the tamari. Top the tofu with a good pinch of grated ginger and a little pinch of black sesame seeds. Serve immediately with chopsticks, with a little bit more tamari if desired.